(Ha'aretz) Moshe Arens - After September 11, al-Qaeda joined the ranks of terrorist organizations targeting Jews around the world. On April 12, 2002, an explosives-filled truck detonated in front of the synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba, killing 19 people and injuring more than 30. On May 16, 2003, in attacks on Jewish targets in Casablanca, Morocco, 33 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded. On November 15, 2003, trucks carrying explosives slammed into the Bet Israel and Neve Shalom synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 27 and injuring more than 300. All these attacks were carried out by units associated with al-Qaeda. It is estimated that 2,000 citizens of Western European countries have traveled to Syria to join one of the jihadist militias, as have hundreds of American citizens. Upon their return, after being indoctrinated in fanatical Islam and receiving weapons training, they constitute a danger to Jews wherever they go, stalking Jewish targets of opportunity. Israeli intelligence and intelligence organizations throughout the world keep a close watch on the activities of Hizbullah, al-Qaeda and Palestinian terrorists. The information they have collected has foiled a number of planned attacks on Jewish targets. It is quite a different matter when the attacks are launched by individuals on their own initiative. It is next to impossible for the intelligence community to obtain advance information on what are almost random acts by single individuals. That is the challenge facing police and security agencies now, if further murders are to be avoided in this war against the Jews that the jihadists have declared. The writer served as Israel's Minister of Defense three times and once as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
2014-06-13 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive